My Grandma

 9 hours to Cody,WY

The boys were great the whole way!

 

Two weeks ago we celebrated the life of my sweet grandma Messer.  She died from Alzheimer's disease. My grandma was an example to me of so many things.  A lot of those things I hadn't thought about until she passed.

She was an incredible worker.  Seriously, when my grandma came to town we cleaned and cleaned before she arrived....and then she would clean and clean when she got to our house :)

My grandma had friends EVERYWHERE.  She was one of those ladies that had lifelong friends everywhere she went.  I want to be like her in this aspect!  What a wonderful talent to have- to make and keep so many friends and to be loved by so many people.  She was easy to love and always had positive things to say.

cowboy boots for days in Cody

She loved the gospel.  Her first husband died in a plane crash when she was pregnant with her first child- My aunt Lyn.  She was a single mom for several years, taught school, and met my grandpa several years after.  She had my dad and aunt Keri after that.  I remember her talking about her callings in church, the sisters and families she visit taught.  She is an great example of a strong woman in the gospel.

Cowtown Candy Store- 

where you can buy chocolate pistols, boots, horses, cowboy hats and more!

Whenever I saw or talked to my grandma she would always start out by saying, "sweet megan..."  I can hear her voice saying that in the same way she always did.

playing with their chocolate pistols

Once I was married, I saw my grandma at least every year- usually twice.  We would have Thanksgiving with my aunt Keri's family and she and my grandpa would come down for that.  She loved to see my boys and loved Charlie's full name.  "Charles...I just love the name Charles..." she would say.

Growing up my grandparents would visit and would always bring berry berry kix cereal for us kids.  I remember thinking they must wake up at 4:30 AM because when we'd wake up the would be awake and had drove or walked to the grocery store to pick up donuts too.  Raspberry filled donuts remind me of my grandparents.  They would always make us drink milk too.  I hated milk growing up so that's one thing I did not like about their visits!

We stumbled upon the town's Christmas parade!  Perfect!  

I imagine my grandma, up in heaven, working like no woman has before in missionary service. When I found out she had died, I pictured the huge a huge crowd of loved ones waiting for her.  Lots of animals too- she loved animals.  Even spiders, ladybugs, praying mantis...she would sweetly scoop up any animal with a piece of paper and gently set them outside in the grass.

my workout buddy at the hotel...left my tennis shoes at home...whoops!

I think grandma's funeral went just the way she would have wanted it.  We all had a lot of fun being together!  Hailey accompanied me when I sang, "In This Very Room."  I sang that at my baptism and my grandma, ever since, said she wanted me to sing that at her funeral.  The whole family stayed in a hotel in Cody and siblings stayed up late playing games and talking.  It was a great family time.

siblings

I'm thankful for the knowledge of eternal families.  This is what life is all about!  I will see my grandma again and I'm positive she'll give me a big hug and in my ear she'll say, "sweet Megan..."